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I am a true believer that you need a Inside presence on your second team. Okafor can score and rebound inside I swear every time this guys gets 30 minutes he gets 20 and 10 - Granted he is not a great defensive presence - very good with the matador defense

I would love to see Okafor in a Portland Uniform next year. If Portland could swing Ed Davis into Okafor (whom does not seem to be wanted in Philadelphia) I think it would be a hit for a second team center - Plus injury insurance for Nurkic. Even if a future second was needed to Philadelphia. I think an inside presence on a 5 mil a year contract for 2 more years is worth it.

Additional bonus I believe after the Crabbe trade this trade would put Portland under the luxury tax line.

Thoughts?

"Not a great defensive presence" is putting it lightly. I also wouldn't really call him an "inside presence".

But I mean, yeah, I'd do that deal. Probably not with a 2nd tho.

We got Swannigan to help fill that inside presence, plus Biggie can space the court. I also don't think that is a super critical role, so I don't know if we need to double down on it.

However, that deal gets us all the way out of the luxury tax (I think.. if we don't pick up Pat), so its probably worth it just on that front alone.

Since we blew a top 10 pick on Collins we might as well develop him since he's gonna be an all world defender according to some of the posters on here.

DeBlazerRiddem wrote:However, that deal gets us all the way out of the luxury tax (I think.. if we don't pick up Pat), so its probably worth it just on that front alone.

yeah, it would get Portland out of the tax this year, but that's not the problem

Okafor's 4th season salary is 6.3M...in the 2018-19 season....the same season as Nurkic will be playing on his new extension, maybe in the 20-25M range...the same season when Portland already has 112M in guaranteed salary, and that's only for 9 players....when the tax line is projected to be about 120M. Add Okafor and the Blazers are only 2M below the tax line while likely being 4 players below a minimum roster of 14 with Nurkic still to add

that expiring contract of Ed Davis may easily have more value to Portland in 2018-19 then Okafor would

Personally I'd do it. Okafor is worth the roll of the dice

Wizenheimer wrote:

DeBlazerRiddem wrote:However, that deal gets us all the way out of the luxury tax (I think.. if we don't pick up Pat), so its probably worth it just on that front alone.

yeah, it would get Portland out of the tax this year, but that's not the problem

Okafor's 4th season salary is 6.3M...in the 2018-19 season....the same season as Nurkic will be playing on his new extension, maybe in the 20-25M range...the same season when Portland already has 112M in guaranteed salary, and that's only for 9 players....when the tax line is projected to be about 120M. Add Okafor and the Blazers are only 2M below the tax line while likely being 4 players below a minimum roster of 14 with Nurkic still to add

that expiring contract of Ed Davis may easily have more value to Portland in 2018-19 then Okafor would

Is that year not an option year? If not, that would change things for me. If we have an option for next year, then it becomes a no-lose situation. Either Okafor plays well and we can make something of it, or it doesn't and we let him go without feeling invested.

I think, if we keep Nurkic, the Blazers are just about guaranteed to pay the tax next year, and as long as we're trying to win its going to stay that way. I've been scared to forecast what the impending luxury tax bills will be if we don't completely revamp this team within the next 3 years, and by revamp I mean move on from the Lillard/McCollum era before we get into repeater tax territory.

I do Davis for a complimentary guard to CJ/Dame

DeBlazerRiddem wrote:
Is that year not an option year? If not, that would change things for me. If we have an option for next year, then it becomes a no-lose situation. Either Okafor plays well and we can make something of it, or it doesn't and we let him go without feeling invested.

it's an option year, but remember, it's a rookie contract. So, that option has to be exercised before the season starts....Blazers would have no way of knowing if Okafor was going to play well of it he's a no-defense black hole

I think, if we keep Nurkic, the Blazers are just about guaranteed to pay the tax next year, and as long as we're trying to win its going to stay that way. I've been scared to forecast what the impending luxury tax bills will be if we don't completely revamp this team within the next 3 years, and by revamp I mean move on from the Lillard/McCollum era before we get into repeater tax territory.

the problem, as I see it, may be that "Lillard/McCollum era". The basic math relationships in the NBA haven't changed even though the cap is much higher. Teams, especially small market teams, will still have a really difficult time carrying more then 2 max-level contracts. That's why OKC traded Harden. Portland already has their max-level deals with Dame and CJ. They are a talented pair but if CJ is the 2nd best player on a team, it's not going to compete for a title. I love Dame, but I even question if he is good enough to lead a team to a title. He's not an elite player, at least not by MVP-level standards, and that sure seems to be what it takes to propel a team to the finals...

and again, those two are already on max-level deals. If Nurkic gets 25M a year, then Dame-CJ-Nurk would be making 80M a year when the cap is 100-108M and the tax line is about 20M above the cap. There's not enough margin there to build a competitive roster, not when decent role players are making 12-15M a year

so, if Portland is falling well short of being a contender, how much appetite will Paul Allen have for paying lots of luxury tax? I mean, a lot of people here seemed convinced that he had no qualms about paying tax this coming season and we see now, that wasn't close to being true (unless they have something planned that add back a lot of salary---doubtful). Personally, at this point, I wouldn't be surprised if the Crabbe trade is the only significant transaction this summer. If that's the case, what are the chances that Portland gets off to their 3rd ragged start to a season in a row? What if, 40 games in they are below .500, again?

I guess mainly I'm saying that the assumption that Portland will be a taxpayer in 2018-19 might end up a significant over-estimation of PA's willingness to fork over gobs of luxury tax

Since Portland has a surefire All Star in Collins I really don't see Okafor getting minutes. Probably best to keep a wiley vet around.

While I was impressed with Biggie's understanding of angles and interior passing lanes in summer league, we did trade up to draft Z.Collins (I believe with the intention of him replacing Davis by next season once he has gained some weight/strength ). I just can't imagine us bringing in Okafor. His interior offensive game is duplicated and exceeded by what Swanigan brings to the table, and despite Biggie's better than advertised defense, he still is going to have some issues guarding in space putting him next to Okafor feels like a really bad idea. I shudder to imagine the absolute blender opposing teams toss our big men into.

I think with the cap, if Portland wants to be competitive, having 3 close to max contracts they will need to keep 6-7 players at a minimum on rookie salaries, where hopefully several will grow into viable roll players.

With this thought, with as little promise that okafor has shown, and with Nurkic solidly in the starter slot, it doesn't make sense to gamble on an expensive rookie with limited growth potential over an expiring since it's unlikely he would fit into long term plans.


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Case2012 wrote:Since we blew a top 10 pick on Collins we might as well develop him since he's gonna be an all world defender according to some of the posters on here.

Keep in mind that tons of teams overvalue players right after the draft. Younger guys get way more value around draft time and this is a trend that EVERY NBA team follows.

The Okafor ship has sailed. We now have other, probably better, options in the same age/experience range.

A trade I really want to do though is Ed Davis and Myers Leonard for Robin Lopez. We also send out max cash of 5.1 million and two 2nd round picks

Financially that saves us 2.47 million in salary this season. Next season it increases our salary by 3.76 million. In 2019-20 though it saves us 11.28 million since Lopez expires after the 2018-19 season.

I love Lopez's toughness and rebounding. Imagine the damage he could do as a back-uo!

lol at the Collins hate.

I love Summer League. Collins is the next Joe Alexander and Caleb is the next Kevin Love. Set in stone now I guess.

Oden2 wrote:Personally I'd do it. Okafor is worth the roll of the dice

Yep... He's worth a reclamation attempt, he's young... and it's worth a shot to see if Dame can rub off on him.

That and this simple swap would get us under the tax-line... so it's a double win

Okafor isn't worth a reclamation attempt. He has always been horrendous defensively. High School, College, NBA. Its not changing and its not worth the time. He is the antithesis of what you want in todays NBA. He demands high usage to be relevant but even then, isn't talented enough to justify that high usage. He isn't a great rebounder, he isn't a great hustle player, he is a poor passer, he is a no-effort defender, he is entitled, he is immature, he is not overly athletic, etc. He is a poor mans version of NYK/LAC era Zach Randolph without the rebounding, jumper or touch.

Gross.

BlazersBroncos wrote:Okafor isn't worth a reclamation attempt. He has always been horrendous defensively. High School, College, NBA. Its not changing and its not worth the time. He is the antithesis of what you want in todays NBA. He demands high usage to be relevant but even then, isn't talented enough to justify that high usage. He isn't a great rebounder, he isn't a great hustle player, he is a poor passer, he is a no-effort defender, he is entitled, he is immature, he is not overly athletic, etc. He is a poor mans version of NYK/LAC era Zach Randolph without the rebounding, jumper or touch.

Gross.

I hadn't really thought about it till you mentioned it:

Okafor has a career usage rate of 26% which is pretty high for a big man. And he has a career TS% of 53.9% which is below the league average and well below the average of a C, especially one who rarely shoots from beyond 16'. So yeah, he's a high usage, low efficiency scorer at this point

of course, it could be real misleading to be talking about 'career' numbers for a player after 2 seasons

I'd much prefer Ed Davis in the role Okfor would play

Oden2 wrote:Personally I'd do it. Okafor is worth the roll of the dice

Exactly, we are in a position were we can and should take calculated risks.

No reason to do this after drafting Collins. Is a single preseason making you forget already? We have a top 10 pick guys, gotta let him develop.